


Burn

by mark_sways



Category: Nine Inch Nails (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Disfigurement, F/M, Fluff and Angst, I Made Myself Cry, Mild Sexual Content, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:35:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24157465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mark_sways/pseuds/mark_sways
Summary: others saw a monster, whereas she saw an angel.ora story in which a bubbly stage actress named Violet falls for a burn victim with dreadlocks named Trent.LOWERCASE INTENDED.
Relationships: Trent Reznor/Original Character(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! So I started this fic on Wattpad about two years ago, and decided out of boredom to pick it back up!
> 
> If you are sensitive to topics such as disfigurement due to an accident, body-shaming, abuse, mentions of suicide, depression, and/or language, I suggest exiting the page and finding new reading material. But I can promise it does get sweeter and happier as the story progresses!
> 
> Thank you for checking it out, and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> \- Tay, stale_incense_old_sweat (@cherrymascara on Tumblr, @PunkRokGirl13 on Wattpad)

they met in the park. 

heavy cotton balls of snowflakes stuck to his hair, and his chin and mouth were covered by a scarf. everyone seemed to avoid him, walk away quickly when they noticed him sitting there on that bench. he had no mittens, his hands jammed into his coat pockets. she didn't mean to stare. he probably noticed and was a bit uncomfortable. the boy wiggled, digging the toe of his combat boot deeper into the freshly fallen snow.

she had been on her way home from her last musical practice at the performing arts college she attended. trudging through the heavy, cleveland powder. her feet were cold and soaked, but she didn't care as she bobbled on down each unplowed sidewalk, blaring the smiths on her sony walkman.

the girl studied him intentively. she took in the sight of his long nose; hollowed cheeks; those light, piercing eyes that, when they looked her way, made her want to bury herself in the blanket of white flakes below her feet. he was so still, so quiet. it were as if he would never dare to cause harm to a human being. he seemed so pure, fragile. like glass. but he seemed sullen, and a bit angry. she couldn't help but be curious as to why he was so displeased.

she stood before him, backpack thrown over one shoulder, headphones around her neck, cheeks warm with embarrassment. she had never been the type to confront a man before, but there was something about this one, with his long dreadlocks, pegged jeans, and raggedy army boots that gave her butterflies in her tummy. the mysteriously shy boy gazed up at her with those shockingly green eyes and said in a soft, calm voice, "hello."

the young woman blinked. had he spoken to her? a broad smile was casted onto her thin lips. "hello."

she expected rejection but got a small reply instead. the dark haired boy cocked an eyebrow, trying desperately to hold the eye contact. he tugged at the scarf and adjusted it so the top seam sat on his bottom lip. "can i help you?"

the girl tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder, shaking her head. "no, but i think i can help you."

those green eyes were filled with uncertainty when the blonde took a seat next to him on the park bench. loud police sirens blared in the distance. the girl turned to face him.

"i think you could use a friend."

"what makes you think i don't have a friend?" 

the young woman smiled sweetly at him, reassuring him of her notions. "sitting alone on a park bench on a saturday afternoon? if you had friends, you'd be trying to see which one you could have a beer with."

the boy shot her a look of annoyance. "maybe i prefer solitude."

"being alone is never fun."

"i've grown used to it."

a frown was followed by a sigh. the girl then gave up, standing from her immobile position. "you're so depressing."

"i have my reasons."

"there are reasons to smile, too, you know."

"i don't have any."

the woman displayed a wry smile. "what's your name?"

the angry boy then glared up at her through his messy, unkempt hair. "trent."

"well, trent. i'm violet, and i'm going to find you a reason to smile."


	2. Chapter 2

children skated along the frozen surface of the pond, laughing and shouting at one another amidst the crisp snow falling onto them. trent shot violet a look of disapproval.

"iceskating? this is your idea of fun?"

"yup, let's go get you some skates, raggedy ann!" violet joked, tugging on the man's arm. he stood motionless with his feet planted firmly to the ground. 

the boy mumbled through the thick material of his scarf, "i'm not going."

"oh, yes, you are! stop being such a fuddy-duddy!"

"you can't tell me what to do."

"come on! please?" violet pleaded, clasping her hands together and puckering her bottom lip. trent rolled his green eyes, grunting at her ploy. 

"your begging isn't working, sweetheart."

violet grasped the lapels of his parka dramatically. "please, oh please! just for a few minutes, please? you'll never have to see me again, i promise."

trent closed his eyes and groaned inwardly. no wonder he left the theater after high school: those actors were always a bit loonie. as much as he wanted to go home to his sewer hole of an apartment, he just needed to get this fruitloop off his back; he knew she'd follow him there if she had to, and drag him back to the rink. why did she care so much anyway?

"christ, fine!" trent pulled his scarf over his nose and took her cold, fragile hand in his, crushing it in his tight grip. the girl had him aggravated now. he heard a few whimpers come from her mouth, so he loosened his grip on her when they reached the merchandise shack. he rummaged through his jean pockets for some money. the elderly man behind the counter looked baffled by trent's urgency. violet flashed a brief smile at the man before making eye contact with her conquest. trent seemed to glare at her, his emerald eyes dark. he turned to the man in the booth and slapped a ten on the counter.

"two pairs of iceskates, please."

°•°•°

"c'mon, ebenezer scrooge! stop being a party pooper and let go of the wall!" violet shouted as she glided backwards. trent was about ready to commit a murder. he hated this girl for making him come onto the ice, he hated her for stopping by him at the park bench, he hated her for making him do things he didn't want to do. 

he blamed violet for making him feel moronic. here he was, gripping onto the sidewall for leverage, hearing the torturous laughter of adolescent children and their parents. everyone was looking at him. he was stuck between a rock and a hard place: he worried the passing people could see his neck, the scars since the scarf had fallen lower around his throat, but if he let go of the wall to fix it, he'd fall on his ass and embarrass himself even further.

his feet shuffled beneath him as he tried to stand upright. slipping and sliding, trent braced himself for impact. he heard his heartbeat grow louder. anxiety. everyone was looking at him, the idiot, the one who couldn't iceskate, the one with the strange scarring on his...

"hey, pretty boy! are you okay?"

trent gained his balance, hanging over the edge of the wall, arms and legs bent at an awkward angle as he held onto the ledge for dear life. he was too clumsy for this.he had watched violet waltz across the pond like a professional figure skater, with such grace and skill. he was actually a bit jealous, in fact. a familiar, light voice giggled in his ear. Trent muttered a few curse words under his breath.

"you alright?" a small hand cupped his shoulder. trent gazed to the left to spot violet, expression amused but concerned.

"oh, yeah. y'know, just hangin' around." trent scoffed, shaking his head. obscenities swirled around his conscience. how had he gone through with this humility? he didn't even know this girl.

"c'mon, i'll help you," violet scooched closer to gather his gloved hands in hers. the man looked terrified when she made him release the ledge from his curled fingers. he shut his eyes, muttering something about people watching. no one was watching them, though. no one was even paying attention to them; it were as if they were the only two alive. 

violet slowly slid backwards, drawing trent near. his eyes were still clenched shut. his chest pressed against hers. she noticed a scattering of shiny, pink flesh around the top of his neck, but shook it off. "trent."

"what?"

"you're in the center of the universe and nothing can touch you."

"huh?" trent cracked his lids and glanced around. citizens whizzed past him, the scent of peppermint and pine filling his lungs. violet noticed that he had a septum piercing, which she quite liked. summer night fireflies were replaced by gold christmas lights strung up in the trees above their heads.

trent's eyes flickered with a new emotion: a little touch of happiness. he tilted his head down before she could catch him smile. violet gasped loudly, throwing her rms around his neck. "you're smiling! i made you smile!"

"violet!" suddenly, the pair came crashing down onto the surface of the frozen duck pond, violet landing on top of trent, frail hands at the nape of his neck. his skin felt like leather beneath her fingertips. he rushed to pull up the scarf.

"admit it, i made you smile." violet hovered over him, her eyes like two burning charcoal piercing holes into his pale skin. he couldn't hold his serious demeanor any longer and presented a grin. 

"okay, okay, you did. you did."

and she couldn't help but smile back.


	3. Chapter 3

the hot chocolate was thick like sludge. trent pushed his aside, gazing outside the diner window. surprisingly, cleveland wasn't as busy as usual; only a few cars and an occasional plow truck. his eyelids felt heavy, but felt the urge to stay with violet. just for a bit longer. he had only met her two hours prior. she was a loon, a fruit-loop. but she was... cool. when he was with her, she hadn't made him feel like a freak. unembarrassed. but he knew that wouldn't last when she figured out his secret. andrea hadn't stayed, so why would she bother sticking around?

violet looked at her watch and sighed. "shit, i should probably be on my way. my folks'll be on my ass when i get home."

"do you need a ride home? i mean, i only live a few blocks away. we can walk over there and i can give you a ride home if you'd like."

violet's expression was one of shock. "are you... actually being nice to me?"

trent slumped in his seat, folding his arms in front of his chest. "ha ha, funny. i can be polite when i feel the need to be."

"you're only being nice because i gave you a good time, right?" violet winked and sipped her chocolate sludge. she wrinkled her nose. "this place makes shitty cocoa, man. i'd rather go to the college cafeteria and drink that radioactive mud than this bland shit."

"you did give me a good time, and i appreciate you taking the time to talk to me."

"of course, trent. you needed it." violet rose to her feet, tearing her coat from the back of her chair and slipping her arms into the sleeves. trent scrambled to his feet and did the same. he took her baby blue backpack for her, throwing the load over his shoulder. the two left their steaming hot cups of muck on the table with a tip of a dollar and seventy-five cents in dimes and nickels.

***

trent's honda civic smelled like cat piss and a crack pipe. violet propped her elbow on the door, her chin resting in her palm. a man was grumbling on the stereo about a bear dancing in the east and an eagle flying in the west. trent was a terrible driver, crossing over the solid yellow lines and not even stopping at stop signs. violet asked him about the latter, to which he replied, "stopping is for pussies. it's life, you only live once, so why stop? if i die by not braking in a four way intersection, then obviously it was my time to go. you can't let pointless objects or situations stop you from going where you want to go."

violet smiled.

her father was waiting by the front door when they showed up at her home. trent was a bit surprised by the house: a white, three story victorian house with a vast veranda that wrapped around the entire foundation. rose bushes with hibernating blooms in the front yard, a decorative iron bench near a cobblestone walking path up to the door. 

violet turned to him and asked, "would you like to come in?"

"n-no, it's alright. besides, i don't think the guy in the doorway likes the sight of me too much."

violet let out a snicker and gave trent a slap on the chest when he proceeded to wave at her seemingly furious father. the boy in the driver's seat exerted a droning sigh. "i'll see you around i guess, right?"

the blonde grinned, jovial. "of course. bye, boy george."

before trent could make a witty comeback, her lips pressed against his cheek, her kiss cold but inviting. a sea of moths, butterflies, maggots-- anything that could crawl-- filled his stomach. she drew her head back, snatched her bag, and exited the car. he watched in amusement as she trotted to the edge of the road, looked both ways like a child would on their bicycle, and ran up the porch steps to greet her father at the door. when it closed, a sudden sadness drenched his heart. he had a bitter taste in his mouth as he drove home.

"where have you been? you told your mother and i that you'd be home by seven. what time is it now? past nine! violet, where were you?" her father nagged her as she hung her fur lined coat on the coat rack in the anteroom. her parents always worried about her. for christ's sake, she was almost twenty years old!

"dad, calm down. i just went ice skating in town and got something to eat. that's it. i'm sorry i was late. i didn't mean to worry you and mom."

her dad softened a bit, scratching the light, thinning hair on his head. "who was that boy, and why were you in his car?"

violet sighed, wandering into the kitchen. her father was on her heels. she spotted her mother asleep on the sofa. nine was late in their minds. her parents weren't even high up in age, but they acted as though they were about sixty. she opened the refrigerator and pulled out a can of rc cola. she cracked the tab, which opened with a hiss. "he's just a friend, daddy. i met him earlier. he's a nice guy."

geoffrey sheppard was not convinced. "he's one of those long-haired, mtv kids, isn't he?"

violet shot her father a look of irritation. "dad--"

"i told you not to get rides home from strangers, also."

violet rolled her eyes. what was she? twelve? "dad, i'm fine. it's all good. take a chill pill."

geoffrey inhaled through his nose before giving her a wry smile. "okay. just... just don't do it again. and if you do, at least call, please?"

"yes, i promise." violet grinned softly at her father. she patted him on the back before bolting up to her room. trent had her all giddy and warm inside. and when she laid down that night to go to sleep, his green eyes and long nose were the only things she saw on the insides of her eyelids.


	4. Chapter 4

trent came home in a chipper mood, and chris vrenna was a bit concerned. not curious. concerned. trent hadn't been like this since he had proposed to andrea back last fall. everything changed after the accident, and trent had rarely even broke out into a grin. nothing excited him anymore. at the skinny puppy show chris had gotten tickets to go to, trent stood there looking at his boots the whole time. talking to trent was like speaking to a brick wall. he had completely isolated himself-- isolated himself so much that chris was the only one who had stuck around by his side after everything happened; andy and the others had gotten sick of his depressing nature.

but what had struck trent so positively?

trent pried open the refrigerator door and pulled out a heineken, curling his lip in disgust at the rancid food items inside. the pair worked odd jobs, barely made enough money to pay rent, and were almost incapable of buying gas for their car-- and they couldn't afford groceries. the two young men typically lived off of beer, coca-cola, and peanut butter sandwiches; on rare occasions they would save up just enough cash to go out for chinese food and have a bottle of saké to go along with their meal. but again, these were uncommon occurrences for trent and chris.

"what's with you?" chris inquired, cocking an eyebrow at his roommate. his companion stomped into the living room. trent shrugged his thin shoulders and set his beer bottle on the coffee table to peel off his parka. chris vrenna was used to trent's appearance, for he was unafraid of the grotesque scarring and pink, leathery flesh across the length of trent's arms and chest. trent hadn't been the same afterwards. andrea ran off, leaving trent isolated and suicidal. he thought he wasn't accepted. chris was all he had. he was just some deformed freak, and trent didn't blame anyone for not wanting to get close to him. he wouldn't want to talk to a guy who looked like hamburger meat, either.

"nothing's up. i just went out for a walk, is all." trent reznor tore off his boots, then his sweater. revealing the continuous bands of shiny, mangled flesh across the expanse of his chest. he was insecure about it, but he knew chris didn't make a fuss over his appearance.

"you sure? you were out for four hours. that's the longest you've been out doing something besides work in nine months." chris cradled his chin in his hand, with his elbow propped up on the arm of the cat-piss stained sofa. trent tossed his unkempt dreadlocks over his shoulder. the dark haired man downed his beer quicker than a bee-stung stallion. chris was impressed.

trent undid his belt and took a few steps towards the hallway. "what does it matter? i was just out for a walk, and went to vinyl fire for a bit."

"find anything good?" chris smirked. he knew his friend hadn't gone record shopping. but what had he been up to?

trent droned out a sigh. "alright, alright. i didn't go sift through albums... i met someone."

chris's eyes widened in disbelief. trent met someone? "that's wonderful, dude. who is it?"

trent wandered into the bathroom to brush his teeth. he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and griped. ugly bastard.

"just some girl i met. she was walking home from some theater gig, and we talked."

"a drama geek?"

"oh, yeah." trent squeezed some glittering, blue paste onto his toothbrush.

"what'd you guys do?"

"she made me go ice-skating." trent scrubbed away at his teeth with his toothbrush, spitting and brushing, brushing and spitting.

"...ice-skating? you... went ice-skating?" chris was baffled. nobody ever got trent to do silly things like that. he was such a bump on the log when it came to stuff like that; he acted that way with andy, too. who was this girl that brought him out of his shell?

"yeah... it was... nice."

chris felt himself smile. "it was nice?"

silence enveloped the apartment. Trent then ambled into the living room, tapping his toothpaste-coated toothbrush against his bottom lip. he leaned against the wall, his eyes glued to the ragged carpeting of their rented home. he then gave chris a slow but assuring nod. "it was... it was real nice."

their eyes met, and for the first time in months, chris saw trent smile. and it was the warmest smile he had ever seen.


End file.
